Militants launch deadly Sinai attack
Egyptian soldiers cut down at checkpoint as insurgents target area bordering Israel
EL-ARISH, EGYPT— Suspected Islamic militants attacked an army checkpoint in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Friday, killing12 soldiers and wounding another eight, according to security and medical officials.
They said the attack took place about 80 kilometres east of the Suez Canal near the town of Bir el-Abd, where the wounded were taken for treatment before they were ferried to the city of el-Arish to the east.
Amilitary statement confirmed the death toll, but said six troops were wounded. The military said 15 of the attackers, who arrived at the checkpoint in all-terrain vehicles, were killed and an undetermined number of others were wounded in an ensuring gun battle.
According to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, the militants opened fire on the checkpoint with light arms and heavy machine-guns. The officials had no information on casualties among the militants.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which bore the hallmarks of the local affiliate of Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL. Called the “Emirate of Sinai,” the group is leading the insurgency in the strategic region bordering Israel and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said in a brief statement that the latest attack would only strengthen Egypt’s resolve to continue the “battle for building and survival.”
The attack was the latest in what appears to be a surge in the number of operations launched by the militants as well as a wave of Daesh kidnappings and subsequent killings of Sinai’s residents suspected of collaborating with security forces battling the militants.
However, there has been a dramatic fall in recent months in the number of attacks on mainland Egypt claimed by Daesh. A previously unheard of group, “Hasm,” or “Decisiveness,” has claimed responsibility for the attempted assassination in recent weeks in Cairo of a top prosecutor and a former mufti, or chief theologian.
Egypt has battled militants in Sinai for years, but the insurgency has grown deadlier since the 2013 ouster by the military of an elected Islamist president.
Authorities have placed tight restrictions on travel to Sinai, denying access by independent and foreign media to the vast and arid region. The government also routinely claims the death of dozens of militants every month and occasionally announces that troops are close to defeating the insurgency.